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One great meets another – Southside Johnny – Tom Waits.
Seems like enigmatic Tom Waits is the guy to check - out these days. Scarlett
Johansson, John Hammond and Holly Cole have all been at it; rifling through
ol’ gravel necks’ songbook. This exhilarating 12 tracker of covers makes
fascinating listening, with guest vocals from the legendary Waits himself.
SJ originally intended a standards album covering Frank Sinatra and Billie Holliday,
but he turned to a long standing idea of super-charging Waits’ songs with a
big brassy sound, a pet sound of big band music which he’d admired since
hearing STAX/VOLT artists and Count Basie in particular. To achieve this aim,
he used Asbury Jukes’ trombonist Richie ‘LaBamba’ Rosenberg as arranger-orchestrator-conductor
for four ‘live’ studio recording sessions between June 2005 and December 2006
using 35 musicians.
Early demos had been sent for Waits’ approval, which he enthusiastically endorsed
by guesting on Walk Away. The result is magnificent, with rip-roaring blasts
like the punchy Down, Down, Down as the rhythm section has a ball. Things go
decidedly Brat Pack for the lush swinging Walk Away with Waits’ unmistakable
contribution giving added gravitas, and he loves every minute adapting his
singing style to this new interpretation.
A similar mood ensues on the brass-heavy Please Call Me Baby, and
thrusting Bond-like All The Time In The World (complete with rock-blues
guitar licks). A New Coat Of Paint is awesome, with, once again, the
brass boys letting rip.
Juxtaposing the big sound, there are some exquisite
tender moments found on the chill-out Shiver Me Timbers, though for me
anyway, the best of all are the slow Tango-fused Tango Till … and cool
closer Temptation (with SJ pussy-catting his snarl wonderfully) rubber
stamping a brilliant concept, much like Bruce Springsteen’ Seeger Sessions.
1. Yesterday Is Here
2. Down, Down, Down
3. Walk Away
4. Please Call Me Baby
5. Grapefruit Moon
6. All The Time In The World
7. Tango Till They’re Sore
8. Johnsburg, Illinois
9. New Coat Of Paint
10. Shiver Me Timbers
11. Dead And Lovely
12. Temptation
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Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.